Jules Cheret Palais de Glace Champs Elysées

Jules Cheret Palais de Glace Champs Elysées

Artist:
Jules Chéret (1836 – 1932) was a French painter and lithographer who became a master of Belle Époque poster art. He has been called the father of the modern poster.
As his work became more popular and his large posters displaying modestly free-spirited females found a larger audience, pundits began calling him the "father of the women's liberation." Females had previously been depicted in art as prostitutes or puritans. The women of Chéret's posters, joyous, elegant and lively—'Cherettes', as they were popularly called—were neither. It was freeing for the women of Paris, and heralded a noticeably more open atmosphere in Paris where women were able to engage in formerly taboo activities, such as wearing low-cut bodices and smoking in public. These 'Cherettes' were widely seen and recognised, and a writer of the time said "It is difficult to conceive of Paris without its 'Cheréts'.

Advertising:
"Palais de Glace - Champs Elysées" : "Ice's Palace - Champs Elysees"

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A custom bride and groom silhouette portrait

Hi Guys ! I'm so excited. I just finished this new poster. A custom bride and groom silhouette portrait. A beautiful unique wedding gift !
I think it look great. What do you think? 

By the way. It's available here.

The eiffel Tower Construction 1888

Eiffel Tower construction

The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. It was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.98 million people ascended it in 2011. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.
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  7 December 1887: Construction of the legs with scaffolding.
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  20 March 1888: Completion of 1st level.
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  15 May 1888: Start of construction of second stage.
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  21 August 1888: Completion to 2nd level
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  26 December 1888: Construction of upper stage
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  15 March 1889: Construction of cupola

Alfons Mucha - Biscuits Champagne Lefevre-Utile LU

Alphonse Mucha - Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile

1896
Lefèvre-Utile, a Nantes-based manufacturer of biscuits, commissioned top artists to do their publicity. In addition to posters, Mucha also designed box tops, wrappers and other printed matter for the company.
The social setting depicted in this poster is intended to show Lefèvre-Utile products to be consumed in high society.

Alphonse Mucha

Artist:
ALPHONSE MUCHA (1860 – 1939), was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, known best for his distinct style. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, postcards, and designs. His Art Nouveau style was often imitated. The Art Nouveau style however, was one that Mucha attempted to disassociate himself from throughout his life; he always insisted that rather than maintaining any fashionable stylistic form, his paintings were entirely a product of himself and Czech art.

Biscuits LU

Advertising:
LEFEVRE UTILE, better known worldwide by the initials LU, is a manufacturer brand of French biscuits, emblematic of the city of Nantes.
Lefèvre-Utile was founded in Nantes, France, in 1846 by Jean-Romain Lefèvre. Originally he sold biscuits from the English factory Huntley & Palmers and then he began his own production. The name LU comes from Lefèvre and his business partner and wife, Pauline-Isabelle Utile. Their initials were first utilized by Alfons Mucha for an 1897 calendar ad for the Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co. That same year the company hired Firmin Bouisset to create a poster ad. Bouisset, already noted for his work for the Menier Chocolate company, created Petit Écolier ("the Little Schoolboy") which incorporated the LU initials. Bouisset's poster was used extensively and the image was embossed on the company's Petit Beurre line of biscuits. Within a few years, the success of the logo resulted in the company becoming known as LU.

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Paris seen by Hollywood: Paris When it Sizzles with Audrey Hepburn

Last week I found an old 1964 romantic comedy film: "Paris When It Sizzles". Directed by Richard Quine. The film stars William Holden and Audrey Hepburn, and features Grégoire Aslan, Raymond Bussières and Noël Coward. and Tony Curtis.
The screenplay is by George Axelrod based on the story and film Holiday for Henrietta (La fête à Henriette) a 1952 French movie by Julien Duvivier and Henri Jeanson.

The story concerns a veteran playboy screenwriter named Richard Benson (William Holden) who has been paid to write a screenplay for his boss, Mr. Alexander Myerheim (Noël Coward). Overly set in his playboy and carousing ways, he procrastinates the writing of the screenplay until just two days before it is due. Gabrielle Simpson (Audrey Hepburn), a temp secretary hired by Benson to type the script, comes to Richard's hotel room where they are to work on the script, only then finding out about their tight deadline and that not one page or line of script had yet been written. The desperate and self-loathing writer, Richard, begins to be awakened and inspired by the beautiful Gabrielle, and starts to come up with various scenarios for his screenplay, called The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower, which is based on their unfolding romance. The screenplay, with small but inspired and comedic roles for Noël Coward, Tony Curtis, and other famous stars of the day, makes fun of the movie business, actors, studio heads and itself, and is rife with allusions to the iconic earlier roles of the two main stars.

The French movie: La Fête à Henriette (1952)

 

The American remake: Paris When it Sizzles (1964)

Salon des 100 by Paul Emile Berthon - Art Nouveau French poster

Artist:
Paul Émile Berthon (1872–1909) was a French artist who produced primarily posters and lithographs. Berthon's work is in the style of Art Nouveau, much like his contemporary Alphonse Mucha. Berthon studied as a painter in Villefranche before moving to Paris. He later enrolled at the Ecole Normale d'Enseignement de Dessin and received lessons from Luc-Olivier Merson. His study of the decorative arts influenced his print making, influencing the strong lines and natural details that guided his art. The vast majority of Berthon's lithographed posters did not include advertisements and were meant to stand on their own.

Advertising:
Salon des Cent ("Salon of the One Hundred") was a commercial art exhibition in Paris, based at 31 Rue Bonaparte. The Salon sold color posters, prints and reproductions of artwork to the general public at reasonable prices. It was established in February 1894 by Léon Deschamps, founder of La Plume ("The Pen") an avant garde literary and artistic magazine. It became known for its exhibitions showcasing the works of contemporary graphical artists. The salon held exhibitions until 1900. Many of the posters advertising Salon des Cent exhibitions have themselves become collectors' items.

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Alfons Mucha - Times of the Day

Morning Awakening - Brightness of Day - Evening Contemplation - Night's Rest

Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939), was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, known best for his distinct style. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, postcards, and designs. His Art Nouveau style was often imitated. The Art Nouveau style however, was one that Mucha attempted to disassociate himself from throughout his life; he always insisted that rather than maintaining any fashionable stylistic form, his paintings were entirely a product of himself and Czech art.

In this serie, "the Times of the Day" (1899), Mucha combined fresh yet delicate colours with exuberant floral motifs. Each woman is set within natural surroundings which reflects her mood. The whole is then enclosed in an elaborate ornamental frame reminiscent of a Gothic window.

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